Dispatcher Bonnie Drescher, right, and Tim Peterson, work in the county's current dispatch center Wednesday. The center is due for a revamp later this year.

Written by

B.C. Kowalski
| Journal staff

Portage County soon will expand its dispatch center and hire more personnel, officials say.

Those changes come as a response to a study by consultant group GeoComm, which said both Stevens Point's and county dispatch centers are understaffed, out of date and should consider a merger to better use city and county resources.

The county plans to expand its center into what is now the Emergency Management Department. The county would move the department to the third floor of the Portage County Annex building, housing the department in the former AmeriCorps office. ...